10/10/15

Back in 1969
Divisions were a new thing, two teams were added to the league and
the NY Mets had suffered through 6 years of humiliation. However,
they were poised to make some noise with stellar young pitching,
riding the arms of Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and a guy they thought
would never harness his control, Nolan Ryan.

The late season
rally past the Chicago Cubs wasn't on anyone's radar. In fact, some
pundits felt the newly minted Montreal Expos would finish higher in
the standings than the hapless Mets. We all know what happened, of
course. Donn Clendenon arrived and the team started winning with an
improbable August and September that propelled them into the National
League's first ever championship game. (Division Series would debut
in 1994 and then wildcard teams would join in during 2012).

Like Terry Collins,
Gil Hodges was very platoon oriented. Only two players –
outfielders Tommie Agee and Cleon Jones – played more than 125
games, yet this formula worked and he finished the season with a
100-62 record.

The playoffs were a
great unknown. Empirically you could say the Mets had the advantage
with a better overall record and a dominating one head-to-head
against the powerhouse Braves. Still, any team that featured the
likes of Hank Aaron, Orlando Cepeda, Rico Carty and Felipe Alou had
to be respected when by comparison the Mets were trotting out players
on a regular basis like Rod Gaspar, Ed Charles, Bud Harrelson and Ken
Boswell. In addition to the All-Star offensive talent, the Braves
were riding a tidal wave of momentum, winning 17 of their final 21
games to wrest the title away from the San Francisco Giants.
Oddsmakers had the Mets as big underdogs.

While everyone
figured there was a slim chance that the strong arms of future Hall
of Famer Tom Seaver and future 20 game winner Jerry Koosman who would
propel the upstart Mets to victory. However, they simply outslugged
the Braves, batting a robust .327 over the three game sweep, clubbing
six home runs. In the same year man walked on the moon the Mets went
to the World Series.

Writing this piece
on Thursday evening, we don't yet know what stories will emerge from
the end of the nine-year post-season drought, but as history has
taught us anything can happen.